Apparatus for applying decorative elements

ABSTRACT

The apparatus for applying decorative elements (47) to textile and non-textile flat articles (49) comprises a movable gripper (9) whose axially displaceable punch member (15) is connected to a suction source. The decorative elements (47) are taken by the punch member (15) from the shaker device (23) or with a disc (29) provided with a suction opening and pressed against the flat article (49). The adhesive is melted either by a heating plate (45) arranged beneath the flat article (49) or by a heating element at the punch member (15) and/or in the disc (29).

The subject-matter of the invention is an apparatus for applyingdecorative elements which are covered with a hot adhesive on one side toa flat article lying on a table, comprising a heating element forheating the hot adhesive and a means for pressing the decorative elementonto the flat article.

Articles of clothing for festive occasions and the robes of circusperformers or variety artistes frequently bear decorative elements,which are referred to as stones, consisting of ground glass or materialsimilar to mother of pearl. Depending on the particular use involved, afew up to some hundreds of stone are stuck on to an article of clothing.The decorative elements which are generally of a part-spherical shapeare applied to the flat contact surface with a hot adhesive whichsoftens under the effect of heat and which provides an insolubleconnection to the article to which it is applied, being in most cases aflat textile article.

It is known for the decorative elements to be individually applied byhand to the material which is to be decorated and which lies on aheating plate, and for the decorative elements to be pressedthereagainst either individually with a rod or overall with a plate.

That work is very costly and irksome, particularly when the individualdecorative elements are only about 1 millimetre in diameter andconsequently can scarcely be held by hand.

It is also known for the decorative elements firstly to be applied to anadhesive carrier foil, in that case the decorative elements forming apattern. The decorative elements which adhere to the carrier foil canthen be jointly transferred on to the material to be decorated, using aniron.

That process is suitable only for applying a large number of decorativeelements forming an ornament. The costs involved for applying individualdecorative elements are excessively high and in addition, when dealingwith materials of synthetic fibres, there is the danger that thematerial may shrink or form undulations as a result of the heat which isgiven off by the heating plate or by the iron.

The object of the present invention is that of overcoming thosedisadvantages and providing an apparatus with which the decorativeelements can be applied inexpensively, quickly and accurately to apredetermined location.

The invention attains those objects generally by an apparatus of thetype previously mentioned having the combination of the followingfeatures: a gripper with a punch member, the gripper being arrangedabove the table on a horizontal axis and being pivotable by means of adrive member into an upper and a lower limit position, a shaker devicefor isolating the individual decorative elements, and a rotatable discwhich is arranged between the tip of the punch member in the upper limitposition of the gripper and the shaker device and which engages into theshaker device and which has a bore terminating at its periphery andcommunicating with a suction source for sucking thereagainst and holdingthereat a decorative element which is isolated in the shaker device,whereby a decorative element can be guided from the shaker device to thetip of the punch member by a rotary movement of the disc and from therecan be guided onto a flat article by pivotal movement of the gripperinto the lower limit position. In accordance with the invention, aheating element with a heating plate is arranged under the gripper in anopening in the table. The surface of the heating plate may lie below thesurface of the table, and a light source may be arranged either in theopening or on a cantilever arm carrying the gripper.

It is now possible for decorative elements to be automatically takenindividually from a storage means and applied to the material at adesired location. In that operation, the material is heated onlyprecisely at the location of contact with the decorative element. It istherefore also possible to decorate voluminous materials such as velvetwith decorative elements without visible pressure areas occurringoutside the decorative elements.

The invention will be described in greater detail with reference to anillustrated embodiment. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a partly cut-away perspective view of the apparatus,

FIG. 2 is a plan view, and

FIG. 3 is a side view of the apparatus.

FIG. 1 shows a working table 1 with a pillar 3. The pillar 3 projectsabove the table 1 and at its upper end has a cantilever arm 5 whichextends at least as far as the middle of the table 1. A gripper 9 isfixed to the end of the cantilever arm 5 on a rotatably mounted shaft 7.The gripper 9 substantially comprises a tubular punch member 15 which atthe tip has a suction opening 11 and which is slidably mounted in thegripper 9 and which is connected to a suction source in the pillar 3.The gripper 9 and the punch member 15 may be in the form of apiston-cylinder unit and the displacement of the punch member 15 in thegripper 9 may be produced in known manner by means of compressed air.The gripper 9 and the member 15 together form a linear drive unit 13.Carried on the rearward end of the shaft 7 on the back of the cantileverarm 5 is a gear 17 which meshes with a displaceable rack 19 which isguided along the cantilever arm 5. The rack 19 is connected to a lineardrive 21 and is longitudinally slidably guided thereby. Secured to thearm 5 or the pillar 3 is a funnel-shaped shaker 23 of knownconstruction, with a bead or projection 25 extending in a spiralconfiguration on the inside wall thereof, the shaker device 23 being inthe form of a storage means for decorative elements 47. At one locationthe wall of the shaker device has a vertical slot 27 into which engagesa disc 29 mounted rotatably on a shaft 35. The periphery of the disc 29is flush with the inside wall of the shaker device 23 and is providedwith a radial bore 31 which is also connected to the suction source inthe pillar 3. The bore 31 and the suction source are connected by anaxial bore 33 in the shaft 35 carrying the disc 29. The shaft 35 isrotatable through 180° by means of a gear 37 which is carried on theshaft and a rack 41 which is displaceable by a linear drive 39. Insteadof the linear drives 21 and 39, it is also possible to use steppingmotors (not shown) with which the gripper 9 and the disc 29 respectivelycan be rotated by means of chains or toothed belts.

The opening 11 at the end of the punch member 15 is disposed at a smallspacing from the periphery of the disc 29 when the gripper 9 is pivotedupwardly. Disposed perpendicularly beneath the pivot axis (shaft 7) ofthe gripper 9, in an opening 43 in the table 1, is a heating plate 45formed by the end face of a cylindrical heating element 44. The surfaceof the heating plate 45 is slightly larger than the contact surface,which is coated with hot adhesive, of a decorative element 47, forexample a piece of glass which is ground in a part-spherical shape,referred to as a stone.

Decorative elements 47 are applied by means of the steps which will nowbe described in greater detail:

Due to the vibrations generated in the shaker device 23, the decorativeelements 47 disposed therein move upwardly in succession in an orderlymanner in a spiral configuration on the projection 25 and pass into theright position for being taken over by the disc 29 (contact surfacedirected towards the disc 29) relative to the slot 27. There, they aresucked and held against the opening of the bore 31 in the periphery ofthe disc 29, with the contact surface coated with the hot adhesive. Thedisc 29 is now rotated by the linear drive 39 until the decorativeelement 47 is disposed in front of the opening 11 at the tip of theupwardly pivoted punch member 15. Due to the suction force at theopening 11, the decorative element is sucked thereagainst and held fastat the ground portion thereof. While the disc 29 is being turned backinto the initial position in order to pick up a fresh decorative element47, the punch member 15 moves into a vertical position. The tip of thepunch member 15 with the decorative element 47 held thereto is now at asmall spacing, for example a few millimetres, from a flat textilearticle 49 to be decorated, lying on the table 1, and is precisely abovethe heating plate 45. The punch member 15 is now extended downwardly outof the gripper 9 until the decorative element 47 comes fully intocontact against the heating plate 45, with the article 49 lying belowthe decorative element 47. The pressing time depends on the size of thedecorative element 47, the nature of the hot adhesive and the propertiesof an article 49 lying between the decorative element 47 and the heatingplate 45, and can be set by means of a clock 51 on the pillar 3. Thetemperature of the heating plate 45 can also be set and regulated sothat it is possible to apply decorative elements to flat articles 49which are very sensitive to heat, without giving rise to the danger ofshrinkage outside the contact area. The surface of the heating plate 45is preferably disposed somewhat below the plane of the table 1 so thatit cannot come into contact with the flat article 49 prior to theoperation of applying the decorative element 47.

It will be appreciated that it is also possible to use a storage meansfrom which the decorative elements 47 can be taken directly by the punchmember 15. The linear drive unit 13 in the gripper 9 may be of servicein that respect. In that embodiment care should be taken to ensure thatthe decorative elements 47 are held in the storage means in readinessfor the punch member 5, with the top side thereof, so that they can befitted without any intermediate member. Arranged below the opening 43for the heating plate 45 or above the flat article 49 is a light source53 by means of which the position of the heating plate 45 under the flatarticle 49 can be made visible by means of a spot of light. In that waythe operator can position the article 49 over the heating plate 45 whilethe punch member 15 is being charged with a decorative element 47.

It will be appreciated that it is also possible for the flat article 49to be clamped in a frame (not shown) and to be moved on the table 1 withan automatic guide arrangement. With automatic guidance of the material,it may be expedient to connect a plurality of applicator devices inparallel thereby to increase the output thereof by a multiple. Aplurality of devices connected in parallel may also have a common drivefor producing the pivotal movements of the grippers 9 and the discs 29.

Instead of a heating plate 45 which is arranged in the table 1 under theflat article 49 to be decorated, a heating element (not shown) may befitted in the disc 49 and/or at the tip of the gripper 9; that heatingelement heats the decorative element 47 during transporation thereoffrom the shaker device 23 to the flat article 49 on the table andsoftens the adhesive on the contact surface thereof to such an extentthat the decorative element can be stuck to the flat article 49 whilethe pressure is applied thereto.

It is also possible for the gripper 9 not to be pivotable and for thedecorative elements 49 to be fed individually to the raised punch 15 bymeans of a feed device (not shown).

What is claimed is:
 1. Apparatus for applying decorative elements whichare covered with a hot adhesive on one side to a flat article lying on atable, comprising a heating element for heating the hot adhesive and ameans for pressing the decorative element on the flat articlecharacterised by the combination of the following features:(a) a gripper(9) with a punch member (15), the gripper being arranged above the table(1) on a horizontal axis (7) and being pivotable by means of drivemember (21) into an upper and a lower limit position, (b) a shakerdevice (23) for isolating the individual decorative elements, (c) arotatable disc (29) which is arranged between the tip of the punchmember in the upper limit position of the gripper and the shaker deviceand which engages into the shaker device and which has a bore (31)terminating at its periphery and communicating with a suction source forsucking thereagainst and holding thereat a decorative element (47) whichis isolated in the shaker device (23), (d) wherein a decorative elementcan be guided from the shaker device to the tip of the punch member (15)by a rotary movement of the disc (29) and from there can be guided on tothe flat article by pivotal movement of the gripper into the lower limitposition, and (e) a heating element (44) with a heating plate (45)arranged under the gripper (9) in an opening (43) un the table (1). 2.Apparatus according to claim 1 characterised in that a light source (53)is arranged in the opening (43) or on a cantilever arm (5) carrying thegripper (9).
 3. Apparatus according to claim 1 characterised in that thesurface of the heating plate (45) lies below the surface of the table(1).